Lunch at the Castle

Kristoff watched the young man run back to the castle, then turned back to the steward.

"I assume your message is for me, Kai?"

"Nothing to worry about," the steward replied, "but Her Majesty wishes to see you."

"Thank you," he said smiling, "Is there anything else?"

"No, Your Highness, but if I may ask, was that the private secretary to the new ambassador?"

"Yes, he made that much clear. And I promised him that I wouldn't share our conversation, so you won't get anything more out of me."

"Very well, Your Highness, I'll take my leave," he said with a small bow, and left.

"We'll have to catch up more tomorrow, Sven," he said, closing the stable door and heading to the castle.

With a soft knock, he entered the royal bedroom. Anna was sitting on the bed, fully dressed, with the youngest boy and girl beside her.

"Do I need to change?"

"Just wash your hands, Karl and Marie want a picnic out in the garden," she declared as the boy and girl jumped into his arms.

"Will the doctor approve?"

"Probably not, but if you go with me, I won't be over-exerting myself, so it's fine."

He knew how bored she was getting with the doctor's restrictions, but they did have to at least keep up some appearance of following the rules. Still, some fresh air in the garden would probably be nice.

"You win this one," Kristoff admitted as he walked over to wash his hands. "Where's Sofia?"

"I think she went with Olaf to look for her brothers."

"And where are they? Hiding from the tutors? Or getting the tutors fired?"

"That was only once, and you fired him, if I remember. And it was Inga who gave him trouble, not the boys."

"She was justified, though I did learn some French from that man. You still haven't told me if I'm allowed to use any of it at official functions, though…"

Anna smirked and rolled her eyes. "As for the boys, I think Inga has managed to make Fred feel a bit guilty now, at least. He's starting to sit down for more than ten minutes for his lessons, that's what she told me yesterday."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be at dinner tonight. And, yes, I'll be there, too. Besides, I already met one of the new visitors, and he seems friendly enough."

"Does he know he's met you?"

"You know, I almost feel bad that other countries only ever get formal portraits of us…"

"You know that only works for you," she said. "So, what did you learn?"

"He's very young, and absolutely shouldn't go into espionage, but he knows our children's names better than their own parents do."

"I'll give him credit if he can keep the names straight trying to get them to stop climbing over the castle walls," Anna laughed, "but is he really that young?"

"I would be surprised if he's even twenty," said Kristoff, "but who knows. I suppose he's had an easy life, maybe he hasn't aged too much."

Gerda poked her head into the room.

"Your Majesty, the lunch is ready in the garden."

Marie ran out ahead with Karl following closely behind. Kristoff walked over to the bed and Anna took his arm. Marie ran back and forth several times as they made their way to the garden, while Karl toddled his way at an excited but steady pace.

The food was laid out for them, and the children got first pick. A variety of sandwiches had been made for them, and Anna had been particularly enjoying her favorites since regaining her appetite after the first few months.

Kristoff helped Anna down onto the blanket on the ground. It was a warm, dry day, with no clouds at all. Anna rested against Kristoff's chest as the two younger children began running around the garden.

"How much longer, do you think?" Kristoff asked as he placed his hand on her belly.

"It could be any day, they said, or weeks."

"They're really not more sure? Do they even know if there's only one in there?"

"Yes, this time they're sure about that. It's the beginning they don't know about, since, well… I really have no way to tell. And this time it's not me forgetting to pay attention to which week is which… Karl was still nursing, if you remember, and things weren't exactly regular yet."

In the privacy of their own room, Anna was never this vague, but Gerda had scolded her a few times for being too openly descriptive in public places. Kristoff remembered the subject he really meant to broach.

"Anna," he began. She looked up at him somewhat nervously. He looked at her before continuing. "I know we don't like talking about it, since it's kind of morbid, but it still bothers me."

"Just because Mattias has retired doesn't mean he can't be regent, and you are listed on there, too," she said.

"No, it's not that. That's… fine. If… if… I'd rather he take responsibility if it had to be. And it will only matter for a few more years. That's fine." Anna could feel his muscles tending. She knew he had nightmares about the various ways the Regency Bill would need to be enforced.

"Then what is it?"

"Inga," he began, "I always thought it was a little unfair… I know she's older, but even when she was younger, she seemed better suited even with everyone telling her that her brothers came first… but now, she's behind even Karl in the line of succession, and only ahead of Sofia and Marie. And if this is a boy…"

"So, you want to rewrite the law," Anna interrupted. "It seems simple enough. And if Inga and Fred object, they can worry about that when the time comes. I hope that's a long time away, for once… I'll call the council together in a day or two. We'll see where everyone is off to. They'll complain more about having their unofficial vacation interrupted, I think."

Kristoff's breathing relaxed. He usually avoided official business outside of trade guilds. He knew that Frederick would probably be up to the task eventually, but if it came to that, there would be 7 years of Regency instead of 5, and with Inga, the regent could be more of a nominal position.

He hated thinking about it, and had been burdening Sven with his thoughts on the matter in recent months. There was one more issue he had been meaning to add, but that would be better left for some time when they had more privacy.

"Good," he said, "I was going to suggest one more thing…"

Right then, Sofia came running over.

"You didn't tell me you were having a picnic!"

"You weren't here," replied her mother, "but there's more than enough for everyone. Did you find your brothers?"

"Yes," she said, "they came up with a new game for Olaf. I didn't like it, so I came to find you."

She sat down on a corner of the blanket and found the largest remaining sandwich for herself. Kristoff looked at her red braids glistening in the sun, and he smiled without thinking. Of all the children, she looked the most like their mother. He still thought about the first night he saw her, the time he couldn't talk about with Anna.

Everyone sat in happy silence for a few minutes, with only the sounds of the birds chirping and the waterfall nearby, as well as the occasional giggles of Marie and Karl exploring the hedges by the wall.

"Mama, Papa, can I go to the party tonight?" Sofia asked her parents, "Inga always gets to go, and now Fred is going and Anton and Peder just said they were going!"

"I don't remember agreeing that the twins could go," said Anna, "what do you think, honey?"

"I'm pretty sure I only told Fred. Sofia, sweetie, you're only seven. When you're fourteen like Fred, I promise you can attend state dinners."

"But Peder and Anton are only twelve!" She whined.

"And they don't get to go, either," he said firmly but with a bit of a laugh.

"Can I go tell them myself?" Sofia asked while swallowing the last of her sandwich and running off, not waiting for an answer.

"You will be there the whole time, I hope? I think the new ambassador from Corona the one who thinks you snubbed him fifteen years ago."

"He wouldn't remember that, would he?"

"You'd be surprised," she chided him. He closed his eyes and grimaced, wondering how many of his other social errors the dignitaries would talk about amongst themselves. He really didn't mind that none of them seemed to recognize him if he wasn't wearing formal attire. It gave him a degree of freedom that his life in the palace usually lacked.

"Pap… Father," came Fred, as usual, trying to sound grown up, "You should come to break up the fight."

"What fight?" Kristoff replied, though he was pretty sure he knew what his son was talking about.

"Sofia says you told her the twins can't go to the dinner tonight, and they think she made it up, and, well, why can't they? I'm so bored, and Inga gets all the attention. None of them want to talk to me, just about me. It's like I'm not even there. And even when they talk to me, all they want to do is to tell me about some younger sister or other. I have my own sisters, why do I want to hear about theirs?"

"Freddie," said his mother gently, "I'm pretty sure Inga would be happy not to have half the attention she gets."

"It's Frederick," he snapped.

"And I'm your mother."

"I did say no," Kristoff said, "but Sofia ran off before I could leave. I was going to tell them myself. I'm not that diplomatic, but I think I'd have done a bit better of a job."

"But, Father, I'm going to be bored if they're not there!"

"How about a compromise?" Kristoff said, suddenly remembering something.

"What kind of compromise? Do I get to skip the dinner entirely?"

"No. But I met one of the new people today. He's not that much older than you, and he has no sisters. I'll introduce you. He has a horse and wants to go riding. You can show him around this week."

"Oh. That does sound decent," said Frederick, almost smiling, "still, you should probably go find them. I don't know how long Olaf can hold off a fight."

"I'm ready to go have a rest, if you help me upstairs," said Anna, "I'm sure they can wait that long."

"You go tell them, Frederick," said Kristoff, "and if you see the nanny, have her come get the little ones."

Frederick stood up and helped his mother up. She patted his cheek affectionately. He still looked very much like a boy, but he was already too tall for her to give an easy kiss to, and he was growing out of that sort of thing, anyway. His father put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You go see about delaying that fight, and I'll join you in a few minutes. And then both of us should get cleaned up for tonight. Your brothers get out of a bath, so they have something to be happy about."

Frederick ran off around the corner of the garden, out of their view.

"Marie, Karl!" Anna called out, "we're going back inside!"

"Mama! Papa! Wait for us!" Marie shouted as she ran over, with Karl close behind. As they walked back inside, Gerda was waiting at the door, ready to summon someone to clean up and someone else to find the nanny for the children's naptime.

"Do you want me to stay awhile?" Kristoff asked as they got back to the room.

"Of course! Unless you had something else to do." Anna said as she sat on the bed. He helped her with her shoes and stockings, and then the laces on the back of her dress. "Thank you. I think I'll take a nap like this. The maids can figure out how to get the wrinkles out," she said, laying down on her side and closing her eyes. Kristoff gave her a kiss on the forehead, and took off his shoes and vest before settling in facing her. He was more tired than he realized, and soon fell asleep.